Darling, I Want To Destroy You
by I Killed Juliet
Summary: Life's a lot like a circus. You have ringleaders, questionable food, fantastical moments, but then just as quickly as it came, the troupe moves on and you're left with the empty space and dust.


_I wrote this while killing myself over trying to convert a TV Pilot about Hobos into a Stage Play about Hobos for my MA Theatre writing course. This has nothing do with Hobos but while going over random hard drives I found this, revived it, edited and played with it. I have no idea where this is going and why I decided it to write it. Or use the people the way I have. But I did. Because I can and was bored with Hobos. I don't own these people or Hobos._

* * *

This was not going to be good. Luck sat slumped down in his chair. He did not have the energy to groan or scream out in frustration. Life simply sucked. He was a joke. Everything. Nowadays we would say he was one hot mess but since this doesn't take place in modern times we shall just keep with, life just kept getting more real. But in a late 1920s sense.

Years ago his father had gone insane, let his kid brother handle the mafia business and started his own circus troupe. Yes. To be fair, it had become popular in its own right and made some decent funds. He could afford a proper house for his boys. When he had grown older he let his children take hold of the troupe. His kid brother got in some kind of heat from the feds and transferred everything back to him

Then Gandor senor had grown ill. Keith and Berga, his more serious children, happily took over the mafia aspect of the family business. At this point Claire had already run off to pursue something. That left Luck with the circus. He had accepted it. He got prove to the others that he could do something. Handle something.

But like all good things, shit got real fast. The speedy version: a gypsy gave him an elixir that granted him eternal life. He handed it out to his crew and voila. Accidental immortals.

The more long winded version: While on his way to purchase anniversary gift for his wife (he didn't have the money for anything fancy, so he settled for a "gift from the heart,") and came across a shady little shop.

"You love your wife?" The hag had asked him. She didn't look like what one would associate with a witch. She didn't have a humpy back, her face had no warts and her nose was plain. She looked like an average elderly woman.

"I do." He said. She motioned for him to follow her to the back. She disappeared into a store area and came back with a black vial. It was small and looked old. She held it out to him. When he reached for it, she caught his wrist. Her strength surprised him.

"Do you love her?" She had asked. Her eyes turned cold and voice became deeper.

"Yes." He tried to get his wrist away from her vise like grip.

"Forever?" She emphasized the word and tightened her hold.

"What?"

"Do you want to be with her, forever."

"Yes."

She placed the vial in his hand and squeezed his hand.

"Then give her this."

He did. He didn't think much of it and eventually forgot about it. It was until something happened involving a knife that he realized what he purchased.

"He stabbed you!" His wife held onto his neck for dear life. A man had stormed in their tent. He felt cheated for the price of the ticket and the beer that his people had sold him. He charged forward and stabbed Luck in the throat.

His wife picked up the record player and struck the man in the back of the head. After a few moments the blood seeped back into Luck's wound and it sealed itself.

"It's gone!" She turned his head left and right.

"A miracle!" She hugged his head to her chest and sang praises to Jesus.

Luck was not a religious man and did not believe much in miracles. He decided to conduct some experiments to prove his own theories. This meant that he would ask aid from a man he not so secretly, secretly hated.

"Luck! Hello, my good man!" Isaac Dian grabbed his ring leader and pulled him into a powerful hug. His partner Ennis watched amused while sharpening knives.

"I actually came here for a demonstration."

"A demonstration? What would you like?" He stepped back and let Luck take a gander at his splendor and various objects.

"That knife." Luck nodded at the one in Ennis's hands. She handed it out but he shook his head.

"Is it real?"

"Yes."

"Cut your hand with it."

Ennis looked to Isaac and he nodded. She looked to Luck and then she turned the blade on her hand. It was a clean cut. Sliced down the the center of the palm. Like he had anticipated the wound healed.

"Your tricks are real." Luck said.

"Magic is-" Luck raised his hand and cut off Isaac.

"What I mean is, when you saw your friend in half, you literally cut her. Is that correct?"

"Yes." Isaac answered lamely.

"You're both immortal. That's what it is, isn't it?"

Isaac said nothing. Ennis boldly stepped forward and spoke.

"Yes."

"How old are you?"

"I was created in 1609." Luck did not think much of her wording. He assumed she meant "born."

"And Isaac?"

"1750."

Luck had all the info he wanted at the time and left their tent and went straight to his son's trailer. His kid was in this, "I do not need you parentals," phase and stayed mostly to himself and in the trailer he and his wife used for storage.

He grabbed his son and offered him a nice shot of immortal juice. His son was not pleased with this as it was forced down his throat. Luck then proceeded to leave the trailer while his son shouted raspy and exhausted threats and protests.

That was ten years ago. Fast forward to the present situation.

Luck let the empty glass slip from his fingers. He could still taste the bitter liquid on his lips and sucked them dry. He needed a fountain of whiskey to keep this going.

"Evening, Mr. Luck." Tick Jefferson for reasons unknown had been the Gandor's chief security detail and personal assistant. He took the role seriously but he failed horribly.

"Mr. Jefferson." He sighed. Luck did not bother to look at the young fellow. His head started to spin. He looked at his now empty hand and frowned. He really wanted another drink of something.

"Would you like anything?" Tick gestured to the liquor cabinet.

"Oh God, yes." He made an effort to attempt to sit up. He slid back to a slumped position and settled for it.

"Tired?"

Tick was not great with small talk and usually ventured to more serious topics. He repeated in his head that Luck was not his friend and to save it for Maria who was waiting outside.

_Save it for Maria. Maria is outside. She wants to practice slashing. Keep Maria from humans and animals._

"You don't rely on me for well being do you?" Luck decided to give it a go. The talking, not slashing.

"Well-being?"

"Money. Support."

"Oh. Yes. I do."

That was not the answer Luck had wanted to hear. The events that led to his current slump came rushing back in ancient sepia.

"That's fantastic. The city just turned us down." Tick handed Luck a glass of bourbon.

"Turned us down? They denied the permit? I thought you had all that done before?"

Luck finished off the drink and handed it back to Tick. He refilled it. The action repeats.

"We had the permit, tickets were selling but they thought were Barnum and Bailey"

"Oh." That was a sore point with everyone involved with the troupe.

"Yeah."

Tick wanted to appease the situation and his boss. He thought hard and fast.

"We could always stick around and just sell our booze."

"I'll consider that."

Tick felt very pleased with himself thank you. He decided to keep going.

"We could even just have the circus anyway."

"They took back the permit."

"And selling beer is illegal."

Luck sat up straight. Kid had a point. Tick smiled and couldn't wait to tell Maria.

"Where is Miria?"

Luck would come to regret asking this.

"She is with Miss Ennis. They are down by the water with Isaac."

He felt his insides spark and set on fire.

Told you.

Not too far away from the fuming Luck and the gleeful Tick Jefferson is a gang. The gang is rather strange. Their leader spends more time crying and having panic attacks then doing anything malicious or gangy.

They were celebrating. Nice had sold a fair amount of fireworks to the city. Some town milestone was on the horizon and the Chicago misfits were happy to offer their services (explosives/fireworks).

Even Chane was smiling and enjoying herself. Donny popped some cheap bottle substance and they were all off their heads, singing, dancing and falling around like fools.

They were also honoring Chane's good fortune. She was getting married. Or something. The only person who was any good at translating her facial expressions was Jacuzzi and he had passed out after his second glass.

So the others just nodded and mumbled random things and hoped it wasn't obvious they had no clue.

"Careful, boss is on the floor!"

"We should probably move him soon."

Outside the barn, their chosen hideout for the last fortnight was another band of wannabe ruffians. These boys, five in all, had no official leader. That all depended on the one who was the loudest and meanest that week.

These boys had it in their heads they would steal from a rough and tumble group. They wanted infamy. To be feared and respected. They also were all mostly under the age of 12. Mostly.

"All of them are there." One boy said annoyed. The five of them had found a small mount of dirt and grass to hide behind. It was like a mini hill thing.

"If we can distract them, round the back maybe we can get inside." Said another.

Those two looked to a third boy who hadn't been paying attention. Czes. He usually had been lost in his own world.

"Hey Czes, what do you think?"

"Um. yeah." He stood to attention and moved closer to the barn. The boys exchanged looks before following him.

"Nate and Billy go to back and make some noise. Czes, me and Stan will go in."

"What are we after?" Czes thought that was a sensible question. Stan looked at him like he grew an extra head.

"Whatever we see that looks good."

Inside the the barn, Nick and John finally relented and decided that they should indeed move Jacks before he is trampled to death. Nice was too loaded to help and Chane was helping her.

"Don't grab his head! His arms, his arms!" John hissed as he grabbed his esteemed leader's legs and tried to lift his body.

Nick looked at his hands. They were crushing the poor kid's head. He followed the orders and lifted Jacuzzi from the acceptable state.

Several things happened at once. Fang screamed and stepped on someone's foot. That caused the owner of said foot to trip and a lantern fell from its perch and onto the wooden floor. Some hay started to smoke and catch fire. Insert panic.

Among the chaos Czes and his little gang ran in. He picked up the first thing that got his attention. A long rectangle box. He then fled as his two buddies had just.

"Whatcha get?" Stan asked after what he felt was a safe distance.

"A box."

"Open it, open it!" Nate and the others crowded around. They all salivated with anticipation.

"Czeslaw Meyer Gandor, bath time!"

Czes was very thankful it was night and there had not been much light. His friends snickered and mocked him. He did the boy thing and threatened them with bodily violence before he ran off.

His mother had a towel and soap ready for him. He half glared at her as he passed and took the items.

"He's not a kid." He heard his father say he made it to the wooden tub. Honestly. They could have put up a tent for privacy. No such luck. Life sucked. He looked left, right and sighed. Once he was disrobed he lowered himself in the surprisingly hot water. He felt himself relax.

During Czes's me time, Miria took to tidying up the tent she shared with her husband. It was a right disaster.

"You got a letter from Keith today." She reminded him as she picked up lonely mismatched pairs of socks.

"Someone is pushing drugs on our turf. He's not too pleased about it. Berga has two hits out on him and one of our casinos got shot up. Just an average week." Luck said this all dismissively.

"How's Kate?"

"He didn't mention her. I assume she is fine."

"Oh. I like Kate." Miria finished picking up the socks and sat down on the lumpy sad excuse for a double bed.

"Miria." He didn't want to tell her they had no place to go for a whole month and had no money.

"Grumpy face. Something happened." She straightened up and gave him what she called adult attention.

"I-"

"THIEF."

Isaac stumbled into the tent. Tick wrapped his arms around his waist and Ennis was not too far from his side. He had a look of upmost seriousness and determination.

"Isaac I'm trying to-"

"Aaaaaaah!"

Miria ran out of the tent like a flash. She pushed Isaac to the side and made it to the call of distress.

"Czes?"

"You're psychotic and I hate you!"

That could only mean. . .

"Claire?"

Czes, with a towel wrapped around his waist ran to his mother's side. Not Claire with a blade held high skipped to them.

"Claire?" Maria slashed at the air.

Luck and the others came to the scene. Czes allowed his parents to comfort him. Which these days, was rare. He held onto his mother's waist and rested his head on her shoulder. His father walked up to Maria. He could handle Maria. He could handle a lot of insane people, actually.

"Maria. No slashing Czes."

"I wasn't slashing him! I saw something! I'm protecting him, amigo!" Luck turned to his son.

"All I saw was her sword aimed for my head!"

"Katana!"

"Whatever!"

"Yes! Someone snuck into our tent and stole our alcohol!" Isaac pumped his fist in the air ruefully. Ennis nodded.

"When I came to my tent it looked someone had gone through my stuff." Tick added quietly.

"We need better security!" Isaac pumped his other fist.

"I could do that!" Maria showcased her air slashing skills.

"Luck, you were stabbed. " Miria trailed off.

"Stabbed!" Isaac jumped to the side in shock.

"Years ago. I can't afford-"

"I don't feel safe. Ennis and I will go elsewhere if you can't-

"No! Luck, we have to do something!" Miria pleaded. Her eyes had gone wide and full of tears. She threw herself at him.

Luck clenched his fits until his nail cut into the skin. He bit down and his teeth felt ruined. Life was cruel.

"I promise I will take care of it." He said icily.

"I knew I could count on you!" He felt some of his resentment smolder as he absorbed her approval.

After the excitement had died down everyone went back to their respective tents. Maria followed Tick to his.

"We should be in charge, novio!" Maria fell back onto the sorry excuse Tick had for a bed, a large grouping of pillows and blankets.

"Huh?"

"Security!"

"I thought we were."

"If only he would let me slash more." She sighed.

"I don't think there's enough of us to do much."

Inspired.

Maria sat back up and jumped to her feet. She reached out for Tick's hand and they were out of the tent faster than a demon spitting hot fire.

"We'll catch 'em in the act and prove our power!"

They melted into the shadows.

Elsewhere, Luck had grudgingly finished writer a letter, an ad if you will. The oh so wonderful and requested security that his people had wanted. he still had to come around to explaining about the not having their shows or money.

Miria came to his side and placed a piece of paper of him.

"What's this?"

"The list of supplies we're out of. Good thing we're getting paid double the usual, Ennis is out of some of medical supplies! I didn't know she practiced medicine. She needs an awful lot of anesthetics! Isaac is going to recite some poetry for me by the lake, do you want to come?"

Luck threw the tabled across the tent, which caused it collapsed on one side.

"Luck?"

"Help me fix this."

She nodded.

Stress always got the best of him. She understood that. She loved him. He was her most treasured friend. She just wish he would smile. She walked over and helped him rebuild the collapsed bit of the tent.

* * *

_Several Days Later, time leaps_

Czes decided that he was the only sane person in the group to have a lock for his temporary home that he was free and clear of any kind of danger and surprise.

"Don't you _ever_ age?"

He fell from his bed which was almost an actual bed and landed quite awkwardly on his side.

"Oh. It's _you_."

Miria dropped the fabric and turned to their son's trailer. The door was open when she knew it had been closed a minute before. Czes liked to keep to himself. Sure he would "sneak" out here and there but usually he was a homebody.

"That's weird."

Then came the screaming.

"Your brother is here." Miria sang happily before going back to fixing the laundry on the line.

News must have traveled faster than he had anticipated. It must be, "Luck is in dire straits so go look after him." time.

"This is why I told you not to send them letters so soon."

He had finished the ad that he would be posting around the underground brackets. They were easy and he can handle insane.

"Should have lied. Or at least omitted the, "people are robbing from us,"

"I did. I said I felt unsafe." Miria said this rather casually and in eternally cheerful tone.

"Wonderful."

"I told Kate about losing the contract."

He didn't tell her about that.

"I found the letter in the trash while I was cleaning. She must have told Keith and well. Maybe this a family visit because they miss you."

He felt cold anger. He wanted to have this conversation with her. He did. Really. He hated not telling her things.

"I'm not angry. I keep secrets too. You're my best friend and sometimes it's hard to tell you things but I do trust you and I know you trust me too. But it's hard, isn't it?"

She turned to him and smiled.

He wanted to hold her.

He moved closer.

He touched her shoulder.

She turned to face him.

Czes ran out of the trailer on fire.

It was going to be one of **those** visits.


End file.
